Washington, Oct 14:Two top American Senators have asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to adopt a soft stance on data localisation, warning that India's policy on the issue will adversely affect American businesses in the country.

Data localisation is an act of storing data on any device that is physically present within the borders of a particular country where the data was generated.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in a circular in April, said all system providers will have to ensure that the entire data relating to payment systems operated by them are stored in a system only in India. It gave time till October 15 to comply with the mandate.

In a letter to Prime Minister Modi dated Friday, US Sentors John Cornyn and Mark Warner -- who also hold top leadership positions in their own parties -- have opposed the data localisation requirement of the Indian government.

"Data localisation requirements, such as those contained in the draft data protection bill and draft national e-commerce policy framework, will have negative impacts on the ability of companies to do business in India, may undermine your own economic goals, and will likely not improve the security of Indian citizens' data," they said.

Cornyn from the Republican Party and Warner from the Democratic Party are co-chairs of the powerful Senate India Caucuses.

When companies adopt high-quality privacy safeguards, the location of data has no bearing on whether the data is secure, they argued.

"In addition to effectively reducing data security, forced data localisation requirements create inefficiencies for both businesses and consumers, raising the cost of procuring and delivering data services including ones that local Indian businesses utilize on a daily basis, the Senators said.

"Ultimately, they also increase the cost, and/or reduce the availability of, data-dependent services," said the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by PTI.

The two Senators said that forced data localisation will also be counterproductive when it comes to India modernising its framework regarding law enforcement requests for data.

"Both the protection and security of data-as well as access to data for lawful purposes-can be enabled without a requirement that data be stored in a specific physical location. We encourage increased dialogue on these issues between law enforcement agencies in the US and India," the powerful Senators wrote.

The letter comes amidst reports that major American IT companies are up in arms against the latest Indian directive.

American financial companies are believed to have approached the administration against the RBI directive which, beginning October 15, requires them to store in India any payment-related data from transactions that take place inside the country.

India has rejected their request of mirroring.

On Friday, Deputy US Trade Representative and US Ambassador to the WTO Dennis Shea said that the US wants to prohibit data localisation to ensure that there is a free flow of information across borders.

"We want to have prohibitions on data localisation to ensure that there's free flow of information, free flow of data across borders, disciplines around countries requiring companies to give up their source code, permanent ban on taxation or duties on digital transmissions," Shea said.

Shea did not specifically pointed out India on the data localisation issue, but made his views pretty clear where the Trump administration stands on this issue.

Republican Strategist Andy Surabian, who is also a political adviser to Donald Trump Jr, wrote in BreitBart News last week that if implemented, this policy will put an unnecessary burden on American companies and hurt consumers, who will endure higher costs and increased cybersecurity risks.

Meanwhile, mobile messaging platform WhatsApp has said it has built a system that stores payments-related data in India, in line with RBI's data localisation policy.

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Deir al-Balah (Gaza Strip) (AP): The Israeli military said Sunday it would pause fighting in three populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day and open secure routes for aid delivery to desperate Palestinians, launching a series of steps meant to address a surge in hunger in the territory as Israel faces a wave of international criticism over its conduct in the 21-month war.

The military said it would begin a “tactical pause” in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi, three areas of the territory with large populations, to “increase the scale of humanitarian aid” entering the territory.

The pause would begin every day at 10:00 am to 8:00 pm local time until further notice, beginning Sunday.

The military also said Sunday that it carried out aid airdrops into Gaza, which included packages of aid with flour, sugar and canned food.

Food experts have warned for months of the risk of famine in Gaza, where Israel has restricted aid because it says Hamas siphons off goods to help bolster its rule.

Images emerging from Gaza in recent days of emaciated children have fanned global criticism of Israel, including by close allies, who have called for an end to the war and the humanitarian catastrophe it has spawned.

Israel said the new measures were taking place while it continues its offensive against Hamas in other areas.

The local pause in fighting came days after ceasefire efforts between Israel and Hamas appeared to be in doubt. On Friday, Israel and the U.S. recalled their negotiating teams, blaming Hamas, and Israel said it was considering “alternative options” to ceasefire talks with the militant group.

After ending the latest ceasefire in March, Israel cut off the entry of food, medicine, fuel and other supplies completely to Gaza for 2 ½ months, saying it aimed to pressure Hamas to release hostages.

Under international pressure, Israel slightly eased the blockade in May. Since then, it has allowed in around 4,500 trucks for the UN and other aid groups to distribute. The average of 69 trucks a day, however, is far below the 500 to 600 trucks a day the UN says are needed for Gaza. The UN says it has been unable to distribute much of the aid because hungry crowds and gangs take most of it from its arriving trucks.

As a way to divert aid delivery away from the UN, Israel has backed the US-registered Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which in May opened four centers distributing boxes of food supplies. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since May while trying to get food, mostly near those new aid sites, the UN human rights office says.

Israel has railed against the UN throughout the war, saying that its system allowed Hamas to steal aid, without providing evidence. The UN denies that claim and says its delivery mechanism was the best way to bring aid to Palestinians.

The military said the new steps were made in coordination with the U.N. and other humanitarian groups.

Much of Gaza's population, squeezed by fighting into ever tinier patches of land, now relies on aid.

The war began with Hamas' Oct 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, when militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. Hamas still holds 50 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 59,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The U.N. and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.